Day 9: Manang to Yak Kharka (11,614 ft-13,365 ft)

A friendly billy goat that we wanted to take with us.

Turning away from the Annapurna range.

We are in Yak country now.

We decided to hire a porter to help us climb for the next few days as I was worried about overexerting myself at this altitude. I'm feeling nearly 100% after the rest day in Manang and completing my course of antibiotics. Today we had beautiful blue skies and they do appear to be bluer than any skies we've seen (less atmosphere? If anybody has a better answer, would appreciate the help), and a cool temperature to hike in. It is amazing at this latitude how you can be sweating in the direct sun and freezing cold in the shade. With our trusty porter, Prem, in tow, we started our climb out of Manang and angled Northwest, away from the Annapurna massif. Amazing views all around as we passed up the valley into yak territory. Finally we caught our first glimpse of these shaggy animals as they grazed in picturesque mountain pastures. As we approached Yak Kharka Robyn complained of dizziness and a slight headache - early symptoms of mountain sickness. We reached Yak Kharka a short time later and her headache was worse. The body will adjust to altitude relatively quickly if one stops ascending. Fortunately after having lunch she started to feel better. This gave us and idea of how quickly her body acclimates and we decided to slow our pace for the 400m ascent to Thorung Phedi tomorrow. I think the freedom from her first day with no backpack allowed her to ascend too quickly. The air feels drier- if that is possible- and colder, somewhere around 40 degrees F, but we are keeping warm in our fleeces, hats, and sleeping bags. Tonight will be a true test of our Nepali-made sleeping bags as the room has lots of ventilation.